India's first film on Drag Queens (transexuals) that has won international acclaim, but remains Banned in India. Screened at more than 70 international film festivals, the film has won Jury Award for Best Film at two festivals. The film is now part of University courses on sexuality and gender.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Critical Acclaim

Critiques

Congratulations on THE PINK MIRROR. It is totally fabulous. We have watched it twice. ~ David Pearce, Programmer, Queerscreen,Mardi Gras Film Festival, NSW, Sydney, AustraliaThe crowd response was very favorable. Lot's of laughs and a number of people left the movie wanting to buy our DVD compilation which surely has your film- The Pink Mirror... so I would say it was a really good showing.~ Rob Connoley, Executive DirectorIndianapolis LGBT Film Festival, Indiana, USA

We adore Indian films… we were so happy to see your movie.~ Patrick Cardon, Program DirectorLe Festival Question de Genre, Lille, France

Your work was part of another wildly successful festival attended by over 14,000 film lovers. We would not be able to present the largest gay & lesbian film festival in the southwest without the creativity and vision of filmmakers such as yourself.~ Scott Dinger, Director of ProgrammingAustin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival

I am looking forward to seeing your film more now than ever...especially because of the content...we have a very large gay audience in Palm Springs.~ Thomas Ethan Harris, Director of ProgrammingPalm Springs International Short Film Festival

And you know what one of the major rules around here is - IF IT'S BANNED, IT'S GOOD.~ Film Threat online, USA

Sridhar Rangayan’s two-year-old short feature “The Pink Mirror”, one of the most delightful films in the festival, was the first film about transvestites ever made in India and is banned in its native land. Bitchy banter, drama queen drama, handsome studs, dances and songs—and a dose of grim, health-related reality (to a melodramatic motif from Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”)—fill its 40 minutes.~ Bruce-Michael GelbertCritic, Fire Island Q News, USA

To me Gulabi Aaina seems like bridging a gap between say, Fire and Bombay Boys, more so its in Hindi, that in my opinion is adding that breadth of reality that people seem to bypass, the language of the masses. And reading from the website and other reviews, it reminds me of Benegal's Mandi, the black comedy, which is less of a story and more of character plays set in an unashamed, gaudily portrayed, in-your-face bordello.~ Manisha Bhalekar-Kulkarni, Art Historian & Film CritiqueOhio State University

The screening at the San Francisco ILGFF went really well. The audience was mixed and Gulabi Aaina was shown with a number of other films. People, especially the Hindi speakers were giggling throughout the film. Its very exciting to see new queer images appear from India and am very proud that you, someone who did so much at Humsafar are bringing your activist and artist worlds together.~ Javid SyedFeedback on San Francisco ILGFF screening, SF, USAWe would like to warmly & whole-heartedly congratulate you on your fabulous & most remarkable PIECE OF ART we have seen at 27th SFILGFF !!! We were absolutely taken & fascinated by your film.~ Mr. Avi Klammer & Mr. Clarence ReeseOakland CA, U.S.A.

Congratulations! The screenings of your film were a success.~ Xavier-Daniel, Festival DirectorFestival Internacional de Cinema Gai I Lèsbic, Barcelona

Intimate, sad and humorous…Gulabi Aaina... An excellent example of Indian cinema, and it is surprising to know that it has been prohibited in its country.~ Daniel Prada, Film Critic Gaybarcelona.net, Spain

Yeah the audience was hooting and cheering and clapping. It was the best received of the gay shorts in the program. People really enjoyed it.~ Sandip Roy, Co-Chair, TrikoneFeedback on Queer Filmistan, SF, USA

Quick note, the screening went really well and the audience really loved the film. People were laughing throughout at the appropriate times and were really appreciative of how well the film was made, the acting, the camp and the Hindi film drama.~ Javid SyedFeedback on Queer Filmistan, SF, USA

Gulabi Aaina is a heartfelt hilarious romp throughthe over-the-top world of our Meena Kumaris and their boytoys ... CONGRATULATIONS on your pioneering achievement. It takes great courage, conviction and dedication to put one's own finances and resources behind projects of this nature.~ Riyad Vinci Wadia, Pioneering Indian Gay FilmmakerMumbai, India

Watching Gulabi Aaina was a great experience …so many North Indian Divas 'living it' in the audience, was something you could not barter with.~ Vidheesh TyagiNew Delhi, India

I finally got the chance to see 'Gulabi Aaina' and I was ready to roll down the aisle, laughing! The humour is tongue-in-cheek and many of the situations (deliberately and cleverly) are satires of telly soap operas.~ Yusuf, Mumbai, India

I just got to watch Gulabi Aaina, and had so much fun. Thanks for making such a fun film that covers so many things, family, love, mujras, HIV with such adeptness, without making any of it seem tragic (though there are some sad moments).~ Javid SyedSF, USA

In some ways the film shows an "indigenous" way of same sex attraction and lifestyle there. As everyone is nervous abut cultural imperialism and importing homosexuality from the west, this shows that there are entire subcultures with their own slang and lingo that goes about being gay without needing to borrow from stonewall. At the same time other characters in the film who know about gay but not about kothi show how these different ways of looking at same sex attraction are coming together/colliding with each other in modern India.~ Sandip Roy, EditorTrikone, SF, USA

Its India's first "drag queen" film and is a wonderfully light romp through the exaggerated world of our suffering-in-sequence Meena Kumaris and their penchant for muscular men. The film also flirts with concepts and constructs of the cultural divide between western and Indian reading of gay culture.~ Riyad Vinci WadiaDirector - Wadia Movietone Pvt. Ltd, Bombay, India

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